Zoo was a tv series that premiered in 2015, about an animal apocalypse. The premise of the show was very simple but very interesting at the same time. The way the apocalypse started off and the mystery behind the lead character’s father research, was one of the biggest points in the show. Although the show started from trying to figure out why all these random animal attacks were going on, the show quickly went from something that was possible to something that’s just ridiculously crazy. Forewarned, there will be some spoilers in here, so if you haven’t seen Zoo, then head over to netflix and start streaming! You should be entertained by the first 2 seasons.

Now I know Zoo, is just a show based on a book, but season 1 and 2 had so much potential. The fact also that the individuals who became the attempted saviors of the world, were just “average” people, outside of the government agent, the safari guy and his friend who’s history we only were given crumbs about as the show goes on. That “average” joe type of feel, was what made the show also very interesting. It was just these seemingly unconvincing heroes, that were going to somehow save the world.

Then season 2 came around, and more conspiracy theory like premises started developing and that did really help with the mystery of the show and push the “what the hell was really going on” theme, in regards to what could cause these animals to start attacking people. Then they went left field and became severely tin-foiled with their conspiracy theory, where the main leads father is still alive somehow, main lead dude has been injected with what is known as the Ghost gene, there’s these group of people who actually don’t want to end all animal species but rather want to end all of mankind by sterilizing everyone. The latter is how the build up to the end of season 2 comes about. Very interesting, awesome twist but after season 2, that’s really it when it comes to this show having potential.

Some other things I found a little ridiculous about this show outside of the extensive conspiracy theories that were needed to make this show suspenseful, included such things like the vet pathologist who seems to know everything about everything and is the brains behind curing this pandemic of mad animals that’s turning on humans. His genius when it comes to figuring out the cure and figuring out the breadcrumbs, became a little annoying after awhile. What person on earth knows everything about everything, that allows them to solve ever problem that arises? The leads dad, may have had some understanding when it came to biology and such, but vet pathologist took it to a whole new level. Which as I have said, started becoming annoying and very unconvincing. To be honest, they could have added another person to share the knowledge with, to make it more convincing but I guess the budget didn’t allow that? 😛

Then it was the graphics for the animals. In the beginning of the show, they clearly used real animals as part of their props, but as the show continued on, the animals became jokingly CGI’d (and not with the hybrids you see in Season 2 and 3 but animals that actually do exist) and it was as if a prediction to the end of this show, was displayed all across my screen.

Another point of this show that allowed it to at least last the 2 seasons, as much as the story lines became silly, was the “family” and “friendship” that held the savior group together. There was also some kind of conflict among them but at the end of the day, they all had each others’ back as they all started this mad journey together. It is a pretty good way of getting the audience to always root for the group and keep interested in the well being of the characters and hope for a longevity to the show. I guess it is one of their ploys to get viewership even with a shitty plot 😛

Finally, to wrap up my rambling about this show, is the 3rd season. I am actually looking at the first episode as I write this and it is the reason I decided to even write a blog post about this show. It is utterly disappointing on what happened between season 2 and season 3. They clearly ran out of ideas and had to scramble to figure out how this animal apocalypse show, could last anymore than just being a mini-series; which I feel as if it would have had a better potential as, rather than trying to be a show with multiple of seasons. A journalist becomes a bad ass GI jane type, a basic safari friend who was just muscle to be frank and sometimes a beacon of wisdom, becomes a doctor and suddenly is also working on his own research on how to reverse mankind’s sterility problem (dude has no background in anything related to biology or genetics but ends up going to medical school and now becoming a lead in figuring out how to reverse, probably the most complex issues mankind ever faced), and daughter of vet pathologist who was suppose to have died in season 2 but suddenly is alive in season 3, is another GI jane type. The fact her dad has been in some kind of cryogenic chamber for however long that regenerated his skin and kept him alive when he clearly should have been dead, is just a joke in itself.

I am not convinced and I am not sure what they were trying to do with this 3rd season but I can understand how this show ended up being cancelled. As I write this last line, episode 1 has finished and I am contemplating keeping the memory of this show as a positive one after season 2 ending, or to butcher my perception of the whole series and keep on watching season 3. I keep trying to figure out if it will add to the overall story (which it seems to not be doing), or if it will just break down everything that was accomplished in the first 2 seasons? It is kind of like watching a car wreck on the highway; you don’t want to look but you cannot look away either. But yet again, CBS canceling Zoo, was a brilliant idea. The juice on this show ran out a long time ago.